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As RBUSMC wrote, with the use of the hasty sling as a shooting support, it is what was taught for many, many years. It was well entrenched before the summer of 1983 - that much I know. If one is in a supported position, slung up dealing with targets / threats at distance - the Army qual then was 50M to 300M and there was NO (very little if any) short range work in the general purpose forces - it wasn't counter-intuitive.

It is not a good choice in close and it doesn't mirror how we handle pistols - both of which argue against it as an "A" answer. I also wouldn't completely rule it out if I was across a major terrain feature (valley) and using a sling for support (something that seems to be a lost skill, or at least an unknown one).

Up until I got out of the Guard (now several years ago), its use coupled with bad magazines was the leading cause of base over bolt stoppages.

Regarding the use of the charging handle to get the BCG going going forward - as a left hander, the bolt catch is not my thumb when I finish inserting a new magazine. So automatically going to it is not my default. My work ARs have Redi-Mods on them, so pressing the bolt catch with my short trigger finger isn't a default option either. Pulling the charging handle to the rear and releasing it works regardless.

Regarding the use of the charging handle to get the BCG going going forward - as a left hander, the bolt catch is not my thumb when I finish inserting a new magazine. So automatically going to it is not my default. My work ARs have Redi-Mods on them, so pressing the bolt catch with my short trigger finger isn't a default option either. Pulling the charging handle to the rear and releasing it works regardless.

As a left-handed shooter, what I've done is reach around the magwell and hit the bolt catch with my support hand finger. I thought this was pretty much SOP in the AR-15 world?

One of the reasons that the Marine Corps requires the use of the Vickers Sling from Blue Force Gear as well at "requires" everyone to run it attached at the back of the stock and the front of the handguard is that this sling allows for unencumbered use close in while still allowing Marines who find themselves engaging targets at distance the ability to utilize the hasty sling for additional support. Now we just teach our guys to roll slightly while in the prone in order to access fresh mags with the strong hand vice staying slung up and using the support hand to reload the rifle. When I first came in the Marine Corps most of the time we fired our rifles was from the prone on a maneuver range. CQB shooting was not something the regular infantry did on a regular basis, not to mention what we trained new privates to be able to do at School of Infantry. 16 years of war has replaced theory for the most part now and we shoot from multiple positions to include off of barricades and in live fire/ grenade shoot houses with the brand new Privates. We have learned.... well most of us...

Threads like this this amuse me, and remind me of something an old survival school (SV-80 ) instructor told us, "often there can be more than one right answer."

Try different methods, and see which one works for you, as what is "right" for one person, might not be "right" for you.

Here is what has what works for me:

I shoot pistols right hand dominant, and long guns left hand dominant. I also have long fingers (which actually is important).

So I keep my spare pistol mags on my left side, and spare rifle mags on my right side.

For a long gun reloads, I slide bring my right (non firing hand) back to the mag release, and drop the mag with my right thumb, and then use that same hand to pull the spare mag, and feed it into the magwell. Once the new mag is seated, the index finger (also "trigger finger") of the left hand, hits the bolt release to chamber a new round, while the right (non firing hand) moves forward, and I go to work.

That's what works best (including fastest) for me.

However, I will note, that inside approximately 25 yards, if my long gun stops working (for any reason, malfunction or running "dry"), I will most likely be transitioning to my pistol, before trying to fix the gun.

_______________"Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am. Send me." - Isaiah 6:8

Does anyone have any video or experience with or seen/heard of someone doing an AR reload with their shooting hand? What I'm imagining is the support hand stays on the handguard and keeps the rifle shouldered and pointed downrange, the shooting hand then (in some order, not necessarily this one) leaves the grip, drops the mag, retrieves the new one, seats it, drops the bolt catch or runs the charging handle, and then goes back to the grip.